CeBIT explores 'F-Ups' and successes

Friday, 11 May, 2018

Three leading entrepreneurs will speak about their business ‘F’Ups’ that eventually led to success during the CeBIT Australia 2018 event.

Luther Poier, CFO, BlueChilli; Emma Sharley, Co-Founder and CMO, Shop You; and Brendan Yell, Director Community Development APAC, Startup Grind and SendGrid will be candidly sharing stories of their business failures, what they learnt, how they moved on and how it ultimately led to success.

The global movement was first born in Mexico in 2012, with F’Up Nights now staged in more than 250 cities worldwide. The primary purpose of the movement is to address the stigma surrounding failure and to show that failure is an essential part of the path to success.

Garry Williams, Creative Producer: Innovation, University of Melbourne and Josh Lipscombe, Community Lead at LaunchVic, are the co-organisers of F’Up Nights in Sydney and Melbourne and are passionate about start-ups.

“It’s not a pathway into self-help courses or preaching, we are igniting the tech start-up community with high-energy stories from local entrepreneurs that motivate change by sharing real obstacles when starting a new business,” said Williams.

“It’s acknowledging that we are inherently human. We all have flaws, and sometimes it’s our mistakes that make us all greater. We want attendees at CeBIT Australia to be inspired by the f-ups of some of the business tech industry’s most successful. That’s our aim, and I guarantee you, it won’t be a sugar-coated event. It’ll be realistic and motivating.”

Each of the three entrepreneurs will have up to 10 minutes to present their f-ups and subsequent learnings, followed by a questions-and-answers session and networking.

Poier has over 20 years’ experience helping build, invest and grow great start-ups to solve some of the world’s biggest problems, while Sharley has over 12 years’ experience working in marketing for iconic brands before starting her own fashion tech start-up, and Yell is highly experienced in the start-up community, directing and advising on a number of start-ups.

Lipscombe said F’Up Nights are not a celebration of failure, but rather an acknowledgement of how these failures have changed their career trajectory and have not stopped or derailed their vision.

F’Up Night will take place during CeBIT Australia on the FutureTech Stage, 5–7 pm Wednesday, 16 May. The event will be open to all holders of a CeBIT visitor pass.

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